Gears of War 3, the dramatic, action-packed, much-anticipated conclusion to the blockbuster Xbox 360 trilogy, marches out at midnight last night at 20K launch locations. The release was the franchise's biggest. Here is more on the new game:

The final installment of Gears of War 3 opens quite some time after the conclusion of Gears of War 2, and life on the fictional planet Sera is hanging by a thread. Society has all but collapsed, and the troops of Delta Squad are in a desperate fight to save what's left of humanity from an unyielding subterranean enemy, the Locust Horde.

Where the first two installments of ?Gears of War? focused on battles and the war, the third has a more cinematic, human element, though Wynn is careful not to give too much away (game reviewers were also asked not to include too many spoilers).

The first ?Gears of War? begins with Marcus Fenix waking up in a prison cell because he disobeyed military orders while trying to save his father. Despite his efforts, his father dies in the first ?Gears of War.?

In ?Gears of War 2? players learn more about the elder Fenix?s ties to the monster enemies and to other mysterious things happening on the planet. At the start of ?Gears of War 3,? Marcus Fenix finds out his father is still alive and claims to have a way to stop the oncoming battle with the Locus Horde.

Drawing on the father and son relationship shifts the series to a more personal level. One of the characters, Anya Stroud, may be familiar ? she was the voice on the radio for the first two games advising the team of their next objective. Dire times forced the dispatcher to armor up and join the rest of the Delta Squad on the front lines.

It?s also by far the longest ?Gears of War? campaign. Depending on how it?s played, ?Gears of War 3? is a 12- to 14-hour game.